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4A - TheMichiganDaily-_Thursday,_September_9,_2004
Opinion
S e 9Ulirk i ttt ttilg
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EDITED AND MANAGED BY
STUDENTS AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
SINCE 1890
JORDAN SCHRADER
Editor in Chief
JASON Z. PESICK
Editorial Page Editor
Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the
majority of the Daily's editorial board All other pieces do not
necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily.
NOTABLE
QUOTABLE
... you have chosen
... lies and
obfuscation over the
truth and the political
technique of character
assassination ... "
- Former President Jimmy Carter, in a let-
ter to Sen. Zell Miller (D-Ga.), on the sena-
tor's controversial speech at the Republican
National Convention, as reported Tuesday by
the Associated Press.
COLIN DALY Ti ,._
this young man is suffering from A PA TIH Y .
even though apathy can strike anyone at any age,
college students are at particularly high risk.
nobody knows what causes apathy, but some
doctors believe marijuana and inactivity
may accelerate its onset.
symptoms of apathy include:
- a listlesslook in one's eyes
. increased guitar playing
" decreased studying
" moral degradation
" reduced hygiene
" not voting
although apathy can be
lethal, it can be cured.
increasing your awareness
of history and current events,
exercising regularly and
eating a diet rich in dark,
leafy greens should reduce
crippling indifference.
i
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or- Al
N44 \lw
I do ... No you don't.
JOEL HOARD OHl YEA 1A ?
D espite all of the cosmos that strictly defines marriage as the on preserving the comfort of the majority,
advancements union of a man and a woman. To them homo- blacks and women would have never earned
made in the area sexuality is unnatural and immoral, and thus the right to vote. The issue shouldn't even be
of civil rights over the homosexuals themselves should be treated an issue.
past half century and a as second-rate citizens. They claim to have Though gay marriage proponents have
relatively socially liberal the best interests of the American family in found allies in San Francisco Mayor Gavin
culture, gays and lesbians mind, and only by banning gay marriage can Newsom, who issued marriage licenses to
have remained a margin- they preserve the moral fiber that is holding same-sex couples beginning earlier this year
alized group in America. this country together. In the end it serves as in defiance of state law, and the Massachu-
Their rights have been yet another example of the moral majority setts Supreme Judicial Court, which struck
trampled by oppressive attempting to use the government to inflict its down a ban on gay marriage this past Novem-
laws and unsympathetic courts, and many beliefs upon society as a whole. ber, unfortunately the right to same-sex mar-
people would prefer it if they weren't even a The truth of the matter is that opponents riage remains in limbo.
part of our society. of gay marriage seek not to eliminate just However, in the midst of the heated gay
So it comes as no surprise that when same-sex marriage, but homosexuality itself. marriage debate that has surfaced over the
homosexuals had the nerve to try to exercise They act as if a ban on gay marriage will stop past year, an unlikely voice of reason spoke
their right to free association and marry, homosexual behavior in its entirety. No longer up in defense of gay rights in the form of
they were met with heavy resistance. Leg- will homosexuals be associating, cohabitating shadowy and enigmatic Vice President Dick
islators on both the state and federal levels and engaging in consensual sex in the United Cheney, whose daughter, Mary, happens to be
scrambled to draft bills banning gay mar- States as they have been for decades. a lesbian. Cheney stated, "My general view is
riage, including a proposal banning same- If only they could put aside their personal that freedom means freedom for everybody
sex marriage in the state of Michigan, which or religious beliefs and look objectively at the ... People ought to be free to enter into any
voters will decide on this November. Some issue, they might see the inanity inherent in a kind of relationship they want to." His state-
politicians, President Bush among them, find ban on gay marriage. Homosexuality is a nat- ment contained none of the usual noncommit-
the idea of same-sex marriage so offensive urally occurring phenomenon that has been tal language or political rhetoric we've come
that they attempted to amend the U.S. Con- around for millennia. Its existence does not to expect from politicians. I never thought I'd
stitution to outlaw gay marriage throughout negatively affect our culture in any fashion, find myself applauding anything that Cheney
the entire union. Apparently their passion on and there has been no evidence suggesting ever did, but making such a statement took
this issue runs deep enough that they would that raising a child in a family with same- some serious guts. To defy popular opinion,
be willing to change the most sacred and sex parents will adversely affect the child's his party and even his boss was a bold move
powerful document in our nation's history. development. Despite the efforts of the moral on his part. It will take more people like
Fortunately for the reasonable among us, the majority, homosexuality has existed, exists Cheney in order to see this issue through to
amendment never made it past the Senate. and will continue to exist. The only possible its rightful end.
While the steadfastness of their opposition negative affect that gay marriage can have
is unquestionable, their reasons for oppos- on Americas society is that it would am ke Hoard can bg reachgdgt
ing gay marriage are. They claim that there a certain portion of the populace uncomfort- j.ho@umich.edu.
is some unwritten law somewhere out in the able, but if we were to legislate based solely
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
4
01
Cheney's coiment reveals
that he has no shame
TO THE DAILY:
Yesterday morning, in between a mouth-
ful of pancakes, I opened up the paper only
to learn that Vice President Dick Cheney
had sunk to an all-time low: He spoke
unabashedly about the danger of elect-
ing John Kerry on Nov. 2. In his remarks,
Cheney said that if the country elects Kerry,
then " ... we'll be hit in a way that will be
devastating from the standpoint of the Unit-
ed States." Well, once I reread the remarks
to make sure it was Cheney, the vice presi-
dent of what was once the most respected
country in the world, I hit the floor.
The Bush administration's campaign
strategy seem simple: Let's scare the Amer-
ican people into re-electing Bush. Karl
Rove is brilliant because he has crafted
a campaign in which he need not defend
Bush's failures in office. Rove has essen-
tially transformed the face of a traditional
American re-election campaign, for it is no
longer a referendum on the president's first
term in office, but a wonderful opportunity
to scare the American people into resisting
a power change. While I will not name the
other individuals who have used this tactic
throughout history (Bush might brand me
"unpatriotic"), I assert that they were nei-
ther Democrats nor Republicans, but totali-
tarians.
Cheney's comments cheat the American
people out of a constructive debate about
America's future. We are hearing very little
from Bush about his plans for stabilizing
the economy, providing health care for all
Americans and balancing the budget. But,
we are hearing an awful lot of talk about an
imminent attack, which promises to befall
the nation if someone other than Bush were
elected.
The terrorists' most potent weapon is
fear, which stalls governments and paralyz-
es nations. This is the weapon reserved for
those who hate America, not for those who
are so privileged to lead it.
MATTHEW FORGOTSON LSA
sophomore
Communications director, Students for Kerry
the press and the people as to his reasons for
avoiding the debate, or called a coward.
LUIs VAZQUEZ
Rackham
Bookstores and 'U' need to
provide more planners
TO THE DAILY:
Yes, I'll admit it. I'm a proud carrier of the
M-Planner, have been for two years in a row.
As Jerry Seinfeld would say, "Not that there's
anything wrong with that." However, this year
I went to Ulrich's, Michigan Book and Supply
and the Union Bookstore where all three were
sold out. The response that I received was that
the University under-ordered the M-Planner
for sale to the students. This is pretty frus-
trating because they should probably know
how many M-Planners are usually bought
and given away for free to the freshmen. The
size of the freshman class has been reported
to be the largest ever for many months now so
that shouldn't be an issue, especially because
they are free. What I'm wondering is why so
few planners were ordered to the bookstores
for sale. It's the first day of class and they are
all sold out. The University under-ordered,
ha? Well, who exactly is the University? The
Office of New Student Programs is my best
guess, but I couldn't tell you - neither could
the workers at the bookstore. In their defense,
they do offer the planner online to download
or print off. I mean I know that's what I want
to waste 240 pages of ink on. So will someone
please step up and admit some responsibilty/
clear things up for us, order more immediate-
ly, maybe even give us a break on a price for
this mistake? Thank you.
KEVIN ORR
LSA junior
Voters should participate
in five minutes of silence
on Election Day
TO THE DAILY:
Many voters face a dilemma on Elec-
tion Day. They are against the war in Iraq,
minutes as you remember the hundreds of
U.S. servicemen and women and the thou-
sands of Iraqis who have been killed in a
needless war.
The five minutes of silence will begin at 11
a.m. because the United States is in its 11th
hour. Do we allow war and violence to per-
petuate, or do we take actions, both simple
and complex, to reverse the ticking clock?
It's up to you. Five minutes can change the
world. Send questions and comments to
fiveminsofsilence@yahoo.com.
MARC CATONE
Reader
Freeville, NY
LETTERS POLICY
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letters from all of its readers. Letters from
University students, faculty, staff and
administrators will be given priority over
others. Letters should include the writer's
name, college and school year or other Uni-
versity affiliation. The Daily will not print
any letter containing statements that can-
not be verified.
m Letters should be kept to approxi-
mately 300 words. The Michigan Daily
reserves the right to edit for length, clarity
and accuracy. Longer "viewpoints" may be
arranged with an editor. Letters will be run
according to order received and the amount
of space available.
Letters should be sent over e-mail to
tothedaily@michigandaily.com or mailed to
the Daily at 420 Maynard St. Editors can be
reached via e-mail at editpage.editors @umich.
edu. Letters e-mailed to the Daily will be given
priority over those dropped off in person or sent
via the U.S. Postal Service.
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